2/15: New at the library in the past month

Books:

• Mama always comes home / Karma Wilson—Mama Bird and Mama Cat and even teensy-weensy Mama Mole must leave their little ones from time to time; but in the end, mamas always come home. Age Range: 5 to 6
• One bullet away : the making of a Marine officer / Nathaniel Fick—A former captain in the Marines’ First Recon Battalion, who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, reveals how the Corps trains its elite and offers a point-blank account of twenty-first-century battle.
• On the run / Iris Johansen—Bestselling author Iris Johansen is back with an electrifying new thriller that pits a mother and daughter against a relentless killer who takes no prisoners, accepts no surrender, and leaves his intended victims with no choice but one: to run for their lives.
• Murder at the Washington Tribune / Margaret Truman—At the big, aggressive newspaper The Washington Tribune, a young woman has been murdered. And the hunt for her killer is making sensational and lethal headlines.
• Saratoga : a novel of the American Revolution / David Garland—Set against the backdrop of the unthinkable turmoil that accompanied the formation of America, Saratoga is the thrilling first installment in a series that will chronicle the birth of a nation and the stories of the men and women hopelessly caught in its wake.
• The Country kitchen : country style for the most inviting room of the home / Time-Life Books—Offers advice on decorating a kitchen, discusses layout, storage, wallpaper, flooring, and cabinets, and looks at antique silverware, utensils, and dinnerware.
• Deadly detail / Don Porter—It's Fairbanks, Alaska, during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Alex Price, a Bethel bush pilot, is looking forward to a pleasant evening visiting his old friend and prospecting partner Stan and Stan's lovely Athabaskan Indian wife, Angie. But his world is shattered when Stan is killed and assassins begin to stalk both Alex and Angie.
• Friends, lovers, chocolate / Alexander McCall Smith—The ever-inquisitive ethicist Isabel Dalhousie is back, in Alexander McCall Smith's second installment of his wildly popular Sunday Philosophy Club saga -- this time struggling with two very different moral dilemmas of the heart.
• Catch-22 / Joseph Heller—As revealing today as when it was first published, this brilliant novel by the author of Picture This expresses the concerns of an entire generation in its black comedy. World War II flier John Yossarian decides that his only mission each time he goes up is to return—alive!
• Mary, Mary / James Patterson—This time, FBI agent Alex Cross is relaxing with his family at Disneyland when he gets a call from the director. An A-list actress has been murdered outside her Beverly Hills home. At first, the killing appears to be an isolated incident, but Cross quickly deduces that a star-obsessed serial killer known as Mary Smith is on the loose. Before long, every Hollywood celebrity is running scared, hoping not to become next week's deadly attraction.
• Death dance / Linda Fairstein—Teaming up with longtime friends - NYPD's Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace - Assistant DA Alex Cooper investigates the disappearance of world-famous dancer Natalya Galinova, who has suddenly vanished backstage at Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House - during a performance.
• Blindfold game / Dana Stabenow—In Thailand two men hire a pair of international pirates to smuggle them, a small team of mercenaries, and some equipment aboard a freighter at a Russian port. It's frighteningly easy, and the ship sails east, toward the western coast of North America.
• The secret trial of Robert E. Lee / Thomas J. Fleming—1865. The Civil War is over and the South lies in ruins. But for some, the former slaveholders have not been punished enough. A cabal of powerful men, led by Charles A. Dana, the Assistant Secretary of War, plot to break the spirit of the South once and for all--by convicting General Robert E. Lee of treason and hanging him like a common criminal.
• The shadow of the wind / Carlos Ruiz Zafón—Barcelona, 1945 - Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes one day to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again.
• Every breath you take / Judith McNaught—Returning to the lavish Chicago setting of her popular novel Paradise, and revisiting some of that book's characters as well, this story will captivate in inimitable Judith McNaught style.
• The ultimate decorating book : over 1,000 decorating ideas for all the rooms in your home / Judy Spours—Would you like to redecorate your home--or a room--but are unsure of how to achieve a look you'll love long after the last paint brush or fabric swatch is put away? With over 1,000 decorating ideas, this illustrated guide makes the process both fun and satisfying.
• The hostage / W.E.B. Griffin—Major Charley Castillo, hero of By Order of the President, is asked to quietly investigate the kidnapping of a diplomat's wife in Argentina. Shortly thereafter, her husband is murdered, her brother is found to be deeply embroiled in the burgeoning UN/Iraq oil-for-food scandal...and all hell breaks loose.
• Menopause : manage its symptoms with the blood type diet / Peter D'Adamo—Dr. D'Adamo offers new information (not included in any of the other Eat Right books) individualized for the four blood types. This time he zeros in on aging, addressing the issues of brain decline, hormonal deficiency and loss of vitality, and menopause, focusing on treating hot flashes, loss of libido, osteoporosis, and mood changes.
• Saving fish from drowning / Amy Tan—On an ill-fated art expedition into the southern Shan state of Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas-morning tour-and disappear. Through twists of fate, curses, and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the jungle, where they encounter a tribe awaiting the return of the leader and the mythical book of wisdom that will protect them from the ravages and destruction of the Myanmar military regime.
• Phenomenon : everything you need to know about the paranormal / Sylvia Browne—In Phenomenon, an A-to-Z compendium of everything on The Other Side that influence our life here on Earth, Browne provides evocative stories and useful explanations to help make life on The Other Side real for readers.
• Imagine a day / Sarah L. Thomson—On each double page, with illustration facing text, we are encouraged to imagine a different day, a day when the most mystical, amazing, incredible things are possible—like "dive down through branches or swim up to the sun. Age Range: 4 to 8
• Snowmen at Christmas / Caralyn Buehner—Snowmen at Night shared with us the magical, slip-sliding adventures of snowmen after dark . . . but have you ever wondered what snowmen do for Christmas? Well, now's your chance to find out! The snowmen are back, and this time they're celebrating Christmas — the snowman way! Age Range: 4 to 8
• National Geographic almanac of American history / James Miller—Timely, Intriguing, and Lavishly Illustrated in the National Geographic Tradition, this authoritative resource provides the ultimate guide to understanding America and its evolving role in our world's past, present, and future.
• Christmas in Camelot / Mary Pope Osborne—Celebrate the wonder of the Middle Ages with this enchanting addition to the Magic Tree House series! When Jack and Annie receive a Royal Invitation to spend Christmas in Camelot, they expect feasting and fun with King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. But instead, they find themselves on a quest to recapture the kingdom's joy and save Camelot from being forgotten forever. Age Range: 6 to 9
• A wedding in December / Anita Shreve—Writing with the fluent narrative artistry and the acute grasp of human motivation that distinguish all of her bestselling novels, Anita Shreve tells the compelling story of seven former schoolmates who gather at an inn in the Berkshires to celebrate a wedding.
• An unfinished life / Mark Spragg—Jean Gilkyson, pregnant when her husband was killed, is raising their daughter, Griff, in an Iowa trailer house with yet another brutal boyfriend when she realizes this can't go on. But the only refuge available is a town in Wyoming where her loved ones are dead and her father-in-law wishes she was too.
• HarperCollins treasury of picture book classics : a child's first collection / Katherine Brown Tegen—From early, beloved classics such as Goodnight Moon and Harold and the Purple Crayon to such recent treasures as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Pete's a Pizza, this collection assembles twelve of the greatest picture books ever published. For infants or children in preschool.
• On Sand Island / Jacqueline Briggs Martin—In the deep blue waters of Lake Superior lies a small island of hummingbirds, rabbits, and hardy Norwegian fishing folk. On that island lives a boy named Carl who wants nothing more than to be out on the water in a boat of his own making. Age Range: 5 to 8
• Millions to measure / David M. Schwartz—Your favorite wizard is back — and ready to explore the invention of length, weight, and volume measurements. Age Range: 5 to 12
• A little house treasury / Laura Ingalls Wilder—Beloved by generations of children, these stories tell of a plucky girl and her unforgettable experiences. Now, Little House In The Big Woods, Little House on The Prairie, and On The Banks of Plum Creek have been gathered together in one glorious hardcover volume.
• 44 Scotland Street / Alexander McCall Smith—44 Scotland Street recounts the intersecting lives of inhabitants of a multiple-occupancy building in Edinburgh. At the center of the entertaining entanglement is Pat, a 20-year-old gallery employee who makes a startling discovery about a lost masterpiece.
• 1 is one / Tasha Tudor—Tasha Tudor's 1 Is One will reach ages 4-6 with a fine counting book which goes up to 20 and uses bright, old-fashioned Tudor illustrations.
• Caribou crossing / Kim Heacox—Caribou Crossing is a story of intrigue, landscape, and love that blends elements of Farley Mowat's Never Cry Wolf with the pacing of John Grisham's The Pelican Brief. At its nexus is a real issue: attempts by the petroleum industry-and most of Alaska's political and business leaders-to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel / Virginia Lee Burton—Although steam shovels are being replaced by more modern machines, Mike Mulligan refuses to consign his beloved Mary Anne to the junk heap. First published in 1939, this classic is full of informative illustrations, including a diagram of a steam shovel. Age Range: 5 to 8
• The fish princess / Irene N. Watts—In this poetic tale, the parents and grandmother of a baby girl disappear at sea, and she is found drifting in a boat. The people of her village believe her to be cursed and shun her, leaving only her widowed grandfather to care for her. Age Range: 6 to 8
• Chocolate for a woman's soul II / Kay Allenbaugh—These 77 true tales show women discovering the best life has to offer while negotiating the twists and turns of love, listening for the divine, or finding peace even while overcoming life's biggest challenges.
• Mark Twain A to Z : the essential reference to his life and writings /R. Kent. Rasmussen—Until now, tracking down information on Mark Twain's complex life and numerous works was a time-consuming and arduous process. No longer, now that R. Kent Rasmussen has undertaken the herculean task of writing and compiling Mark Twin A to Z— a comprehensive, single-volume reference to this great American writer's life and times.
• Quilt National : contemporary designs in fabric / Ohio Quilt National—The 82 examples depicted from the latest Quilt National traveling exhibition find their inspirations in the works of impressionist painters, in nature, in political ideology, and, of course, in sheer color.
• In my hands : memories of a Holocaust rescuer / Irene Gut Opdyke—Recounts the experiences of the author who, as a young Polish girl, hid and saved Jews during the Holocaust.
• A reporter's life / Walter Cronkite—At the age of eighty, Cronkite has written his life story - the personal and professional odyssey of the original "anchorman", for whom that very word was coined.

All book descriptions are from the webpages linked to.